<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>this better not awaken anything in me by junipergray</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25046422">this better not awaken anything in me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/junipergray/pseuds/junipergray'>junipergray</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Community (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Trobed, troy falls in love because abed does the dishes thats it thats the fic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:16:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,712</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25046422</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/junipergray/pseuds/junipergray</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>based off the prompt: Character A doing a chore they know Character B isn't fond of.</p><p>"The obnoxious fluorescent light in the kitchen made Abed’s hair look kinda shiny, and Troy appreciated the way it made Abed’s dark eyes sparkle a little, like the glitter slime they made the other day. He also appreciated the way Abed did the dishes for him. And the way Abed did the dishes."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>234</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>this better not awaken anything in me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this was written at 1 AM and it might just be me projecting onto Troy because FUCK I don't want to do my dishes :/</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Well, that sucked.” Annie grabbed the remote from the end table next to her and turned off the TV. </p><p>“It was Kickpuncher 4: Pulling no Punches, Annie. What did you expect?” Abed said simply, standing up from his spot and collecting the empty bowls from their movie snacks on impulse. He hadn’t ever considered himself to be a neat and tidy person, but Annie had burst into the blanket fort on many occasions to scold Troy and Abed for leaving dishes on the floor for her to trip over, thus creating a habit of cleaning up after himself.</p><p>“You guys just didn’t get the ending. It was a metaphor.” Troy had watery eyes that he tried to discreetly wipe away with his shirt. Abed hummed in response and brought the dishes to the sink and began rinsing them out.</p><p>“I thought it was Troy’s turn to do the dishes tonight.” Annie stated, turning to look at Abed who was blankly focused on the task at hand. Troy pouted a bit and looked at Annie, almost begging her to reconsider. Abed’s eyes flickered between the two for a second.</p><p>“It’s cool, I used most of the dishes today anyway. I was trying out different types of noodles today.” He explained, applying copious amounts of dish soap to the sponge and all over the dishes. Across the room, Troy relaxed back into his seat. Annie sat up in return.</p><p>“Troy, you can’t depend on Abed doing the dishes for you every time it’s your turn!” Annie was giving him The Scolding Look, the one she used to get Abed and Troy to start cleaning in the first place, and to get them to change their sheets, and eat fruits and vegetables sometimes for lunch instead of Lucky Charms again. Troy shifted uncomfortably, thinking of a valid reason not to do the dishes, other than wet food being yucky.</p><p>“He did them a couple days ago, when we got home late after finishing our Chemistry project,” he really did, but it was just rinsing the glitter slime they made instead of a project out of one of their bowls. “And, like I said, it’s cool Annie. I find washing dishes to be satisfying. Makes me feel like I’m home.” Abed quickly shot back, scrubbing the same spot on a plate the whole time. Annie’s face melted into a smile, and she tried to hide her signature ‘aww’ at the last statement, but squeaked a little instead. She got up from her chair and straightened her sweater.</p><p>“Okay, I guess I’ll leave you to it then. I’m off to bed, night guys!” All traces of Annie’s Scolding Face were gone as she walked to her room to the small chorus of two boys saying “Night, Annie!” with impressive synchronicity. When her door shut, Troy turned to the kitchen and silently watched Abed efficiently clean the dishes that piled up throughout the day.</p><p>“I’m not lazy, you know. And I could do the dishes if you don’t want to, or whatever.” Troy sounded a bit too defensive, as if not doing dishes makes him less of a man; however, he really didn’t want to do the dishes. They were gross and it was more entertaining to watch Abed do them with exceptional proficiency, even with the abundance of soap he used. It was fun to watch Abed do anything, really.</p><p>“I know you aren’t lazy. You work out every morning.” Abed placed a bowl on the drying rack before swiftly reaching for another one and rinsing the sponge. “I also know you hate doing dishes, I figured it’s because of the way wet food looks, and it bothers you and you look extremely uncomfortable the whole time you do them.” He had a rhythm going with the dishes now, and it almost looked as impressive as juggling to Troy.</p><p>“Oh… thanks, man. I dunno what it is about wet food, it just gives me the heebie jeebies. Like little kid choirs where the kids actually sing the right notes. It’s just weird.” Troy stood up and walked over by the sink, leaning on the counter next to Abed. “You don’t have to do the dishes all the time, though. It just grosses me out is all.”</p><p>“You do little things for me all the time when you know it makes me uncomfortable, like how you cut the tags out of all the shirts you get me because you know I hate how itchy they are. Or how you don’t complain when I want buttered noodles even though I know you’re probably sick of them by now.” Abed rinsed his sponge off again, reapplying too much soap and starting the routine again. Troy blushed a little at Abed’s observations, finding his affinity for paying so much attention to be endearing. </p><p>“I like doing those things for you. And I could never get sick of buttered noodles.”</p><p>“I like doing the dishes for you. And I like making you happy in general. You smile a lot when you’re in a good mood and I like it.” Abed said simply, squeezing out the sponge and putting it on the side of the now empty sink. Troy’s face grew a bit warmer, leading to an inevitable grin. Abed looked up at him with a tiny smile of his own and reached behind Troy to grab a rag, taking a dish off the rack to wipe dry. It was as mesmerizing as the first round of washing, his thin fingers moving gracefully around the plate with the rag. His heart fluttered a smidge. </p><p><i>Is it weird to get turned on by hands?</i> Troy pondered for a moment. <i>Or is it weird because he’s holding an old rag?</i> Abed traced his line of vision quickly and looked at Troy.</p><p>“Did you want to dry them or something?” He rested the rag on top of the plate. Troy startled a bit, snapping out of his trance. The obnoxious fluorescent light in the kitchen made Abed’s hair look kinda shiny, and Troy appreciated the way it made Abed’s dark eyes sparkle a little, like the glitter slime they made the other day. He also appreciated the way Abed did the dishes for him. And the way Abed did the dishes.</p><p>
  <i>Wait, isn’t it just weird to get turned on by your best friend in general? Especially if he’s a dude and you live with him? I should probably keep this on the downlow. I’m pretty sure that’s freaky weird. Shit, he asked me a question.</i>
</p><p>“No, I just wanted to kiss you I think. Or something.” Troy blurted. Abed’s eyebrows furrowed instantly and his eyes widened. Troy’s eyes widened twice as much once what he said reached his ears. “I meant- um, shit. I mean I like watching your hands when you do dishes. Wait- no. Um.” Troy swallowed thickly, his brain scrambling to find a way to redirect the conversation without embarrassing himself further. Abed put the plate back on the rack.</p><p>“Are you doing a rom-com trope? I don’t think I’ve seen it before. But I guess we can kiss if you want.” He sounded slightly more robotic than usual. Troy choked a bit.</p><p>“No, no no. I’m sorry. Not a trope thing. It’s just-... I think I like you in the more-than-a-friend type of way, and I don’t want you to kiss me if you don’t like me like that too, and it’s weird because for some reason I realized it by watching you do the dishes and then I was thinking about how cute it is that you notice little things about me and probably do a lot more things for me that I don’t even notice and that your hair is shiny and your hands look super nice when you wash dishes.” He felt the need to catch his breath after the longest run-on sentence of all history, but found himself holding it still, waiting for the awkward silence to pass as he stared at Abed, who stared back.</p><p>“Cool. Cool cool cool.” Abed finally supplied. Troy gulped, not knowing what to say. </p><p>
  <i>Was that a good ‘cool cool cool’?</i>
</p><p>“In that case, we can kiss still. It is kinda weird that your feelings were realized upon watching me do the dishes, and I hope this isn’t a dishes-only kiss, like I only get them when I do the dishes, because I’d like to kiss at other times too.” Abed spoke again, tossing the rag onto the counter. Troy felt like his eyes were bulging out of his head, and he was gonna come up with a response, he swore, but his brain completely fizzled out when Abed swiftly closed the two foot distance between them and connected their lips. </p><p>Abed placed one hand behind Troy’s head, fingers threading into his hair, and the other one rested on Troy’s midriff. For a few seconds, Troy’s hands stayed limply at his sides before his brain caught up, springing them into action around Abed’s waist. Troy didn’t know what to expect when kissing Abed, but he definitely didn’t mind the way he nibbled at Troy’s lower lips lightly, or the way he tasted like Diet Squirt and Cheez-Its. And he especially didn’t mind when Abed’s tongue found its way into the equation, moving with the same proficiency as he knew his hands could. What he didn’t expect, however, was how passionately Abed kissed, as if he saved all his outward emotions for moments like this.</p><p>After almost a minute, they broke apart slowly with a slight pop. They both panted a bit, and Troy let his forehead rest against Abed’s.</p><p>“So, you… like-like me too? That’s awesome.” Troy finally spoke, smiling up at Abed.</p><p>“If I’m honest, I invited you to the study group in the first place because I thought you were cute. And by the end of the first semester you were beautiful.” Abed looked at Troy hesitantly, as if he was still questioning the authenticity of the moment. Troy giggled and pecked Abed quickly on the lips.</p><p>“And if I’m honest, my feelings weren’t completely because of the dishes, I think it started that first Halloween when I heard your Batman voice. Is that weird?”</p><p>“Less weird than dishes.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for reading! kudos &amp; comments make me thrive and clear my skin</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>